


Come, Sweet Death

by knave_of_swords



Category: Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Adopted Sibling Incest, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, F/M, Ficlet, Heavy Angst, Mild Gore, Self-Mutilation, Suicide, psuedo-necrophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:20:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27050071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knave_of_swords/pseuds/knave_of_swords
Summary: Altena will break the curse of the Gae Bolg. She has to.
Relationships: Altena/Areone | Arion
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Come, Sweet Death

**Author's Note:**

> please make sure you've read all of the tags

The tragedy of the Gae Bolg. Altena doesn't remember when or where she learned of it, but it eats away at her nonetheless. The lance of love and sorrow, dividing any unfortunate couple whose hands it falls into. 

It doesn't matter. Arion is her brother, not her lover. The Gae Bolg won't tear them apart, not ever. Altena doesn't consider herself superstitious, but the legend of the Gae Bolg hangs over her head ever day, a sword waiting to come falling down. 

#

Altena doesn't remember when she first picked up the Gae Bolg. Her father-- no, Travant-- must have put it in her hands as soon as she could hold a lance. It's not fair that she's been forced into the tragedy of legend; she never got to choose whether or not she wielded the weapon. She was a child. 

#

She tries to destroy the Gae Bolg. She throws it into the fire, tries to hack it apart. No method succeeds, and the Gae Bolg remains perfectly intact. The closest it comes to breaking is when Seliph relutantly swings at it with Tyrfing, and leaves a shallow scratch on the shaft.

Altena cries. She cries at her failure, and she cries that she even tried in the first place. The Gae Bolg is the only thing she has that connects her to Quan and Ethlyn, and here she is, trying to throw it away, to destroy it. 

#

If she can not destroy the Gae Bolg, she will destroy her ability to wield it. Its tragedy is visited upon its wielders. If she can not wield it, she will escape the legend.

Her hand shakes unsteadily on her first try, leaving only a deep gash along her other forearm. The pain is intense, and Altena nearly drops the axe in her hand. She braces herself, and tries again. 

This time, it works. Altena hears something loud ringing in her ears. She realizes, through a distant haze, that what she's hearing is her own screams. She drops the axe, and it must clatter as it hits the floor, but Altena can't hear anything but her own screams. 

Blood. Blood is everywhere. She sees her amputated hand, on the floor, covered in her own blood. Bone peeks through the bloody flesh on the end of her arm. Altena falls to her knees, and her stomach revulses. She's always been able to handle the horrid sights of war. This is nothing compared to what the Gae Bolg could do to a man. Still, Altena vomits into the pool of her own blood staining her knees, and her vision blurs as everything turns white.

#

Altena doesn't die. Finn and Nanna heard her scream, and came running to her, arriving shortly after she had passed out. They and Leif ask her questions, express concern. Altena ignores them. Finally, they leave her alone, albeit locked in the infirmary with a healer next door.

#

It's useless. It's useless for her to try and escape the tragedy of the Gae Bolg. Not even cutting off her hand worked. Nothing will ever work, because the curse has already visited her. Arion is dead, by her own hand, and nothing can undo that. There is no way for her to go back in time and undo his death or prevent the legend from coming true.

#

Altena remembers how Arion had looked with the Gae Bolg impaled in his chest. Beautiful, like always, if not for the lance running straight through him. The image is frozen in her mind, the moment replaying over and over in her head.

It had been an accident. She hadn't meant to kill him. She was trying to talk with him, to convince him to stop fighting for Julius. 

Her hand had slipped, and she no longer had to convince him to stand down. He fell from his wyvern, landing on the ground with an ugly thump. Altena remembers screaming his name as he fell. She remembers rushing to his side, desparately hoping that he could be saved.

"Altena..." he groaned, and then spoke no more. Altena held him in her arms and wept. 

She kissed him. His lips were cold, but Altena refused to accept that he had died. She remembers yelling his name as she kissed him again and again. She remembers tearing off his clothes and refusing to look at the way his chest caved in around the deep wound the Gae Bolg left behind. 

She wishes that she could have loved him properly, instead of having to settle for clutching his corpse and fantasizing about what might have been.

#

Altena knows how to escape her misery. She's always known, but refused to accept it. It's alright now. There's nothing else that she needs to live for. Thracia is thriving in Leif's hands, and he has Nanna and Finn at his side. 

Altena takes the Gae Bolg and points it at her chest. Her breathing is steady. She's ready for this. She's ready to finally meet Quan and Ethlyn. She's ready to stand in front of Arion and beg for his forgiveness. 

She lets herself fall forwards.

**Author's Note:**

> this is so sad, alexa play komm süsser tod


End file.
